5 things you missed: A new Sonos app, Minecraft books, more

FILE - In this Monday, Sept. 9, 2013 file photo, Hiroshi Kawano, Sony Corp.'s chief of the game business in Japan and Asia, holds a PlayStation 4 during an event in Tokyo. PlayStation stands out among the long list of famous Sony brands as one that hasn’t faded or succumbed to a nimbler competitor. Months after hitting global markets, the latest version of the video-game console is going on sale at midnight in Tokyo, a big shift from times when Sony was ascendant enough to launch flagship products in Japan first. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

Sonos, a manufacturer of internet-connected speakers, is getting ready to overhaul their mobile tools with a new controller app. The app will make it possible to discover artists through one service and then listen to their music through another service, in some manipulation of the time-space continuum.

The app will connect your music apps – like Pandora, TuneIn and Rdio – so that if you find a song on Pandora, but want to listen to it again on Rdio, that’s only a few clicks away. Users will still need to be patient for third-party app access, meaning that for now you’ll have to use the Sonos app to explore Pandora, not the other way around.

Read more: “” (Gigaom)

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2. Should you pay for credit monitoring services?

In the wake of the Target credit-data hack, should you be interested in a credit-monitoring service? Brian Krebs, the man who exposed the Target meltdown, breaks down the options for consumers.

All the services are unique while still the same, offering different features like mobile apps and early detection warnings.

But do they help at all? ”They help if it’s too hard for you to look through your free credit report and make sense of all the activity in it,” fraud analyst Avivah Litan said.

For more details, read Krebs’s piece and make an informed decision.

Read more: “” (Krebs On Security)

3. SkyDog update helps turns a web router into a parent’s best friend

If you own a SkyDog Smart router, controlling which sites your children use on the Internet just became a heck of a lot easier.

The router’s WebRover update provides a list of sites that have been approved by Common Sense Media so parents can create filters to limit access. Parents can additionally filter the list by genre, age range, educational quality, and so on. The sites come up in a visually-appealing carousel, which lets new Internet users quickly and easily get to the sites they want to visit.

It looks like a cool product, proving that man’s best friend continues to be part of the canine family.

Read more: “” (Yahoo)

4. New books offer educational material for Minecraft

Confused about what this “Minequest, Minecraft, whatever,” obsession that your child has developed? Two new handbooks help children turn their passion into something more healthy, understandable and appreciable by the whole family.

“Minecraft: The Official Construction Handbook” and “Minecraft: The Official Combat Handbook” should help parents engage in something that their kids are passionate about. It will also help the children excel at the game, and who doesn’t want to be the best at his or her hobby?

Read more: ““ (Forbes)

5. PlayStation updates unlock video ripping capabilities

Sony hyped up the ability of the PlayStation 4 to have unlimited video capture, but hasn’t delivered on that promise as of yet. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Though the updates don’t have an actual date to be released, the first should come soon and will allow users to shut off high-bandwidth Digital Content Protection while mixing in video editing tools. Video files can also be saved to an external USB drive, freeing up storage space and providing an option to save hours of video.